Juvenile charged after baby found in plastic container

ROANOKE, Va. – Police say a juvenile has been charged with trying to kill her baby after the child was found in a plastic container in Roanoke.

Roanoke police say in a news release that officers went to the home Jan. 5 after being called to investigate suspicious circumstances involving a newborn.

Authorities say the mother first denied having the baby, but an officer heard the child cry in her bedroom.

Roanoke police spokesman Scott Leamon said in a telephone interview Thursday that the infant was found inside a medium-size plastic tub with the lid closed. Both the child and the mother were taken to a hospital for treatment.

The mother was charged with attempted murder, aggravated malicious wounding, and child neglect. She was taken to a detention center. Her age wasn't released.